Doll voice mechanism



Jam 9, 1951 A. PETROV DOLL VOICE MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb.15, 1946 /VVENTO/Z f4@ THU/e PE r/Qo v.

WV' G.

ATTORNEY,

Jam 9, 195]; A. PETRov Dom.' voIcE MECHANISM 3AShee-ts-Sheet 2 FiledFeb. 15, 1946 d Np m Q W2 A m W w Jan. 9, 1951 A, PETROV 2,537,157

DOLL VOICE: 'MEGHANISM @97 /Nl/ENTO/Z HR THU@ PET/20v ff Affare/v6):

Patented Jan. 9, 19h51s UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE This invention relatesto a doll voice mechanism, and more particularly to a Sound producingdevice adapted to be positioned in dolls to utter articulate sounds indistinct syllables rand words.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a dollvoice mechanism which, when rocked from side to side, and whether or notpositioned in a doll, will audibly utter sounds in phonetic simulationof two syllable words, namely "ma-ma Aand pa-pa likened to a childsspeech.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device toarticulate sounds whereby a crying sound likened to ah precedes the nrstsyllable ma in the word ma-ma.

A further object of the invention resides in providing a device of thecharacter wherein a single valve key is actuated by three spacedstationary cams for controlling air forced through two sound emittingpassages.

Further objects of the invention are t provide a device of the abovecharacter which will be small and light in weight, simple inconstruction, strong, durable, compact and highly eficient andreliablein use.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages' of the invention willbecome apparent from a study of the following speciiication, read inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters ofreference denote similar parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the articulative sound producing devicewith a portion of the casing broken away. It is shown in both full linesand in dotted lines in two tilted positions.

Fig. 2 is a left hand side elevation of the oscillative body includingreeds and valve key.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the oscillative body shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a right hand Yside elevation of the oscillaL-ive bodyincluding reeds and valve key.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the oscillative body shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a front .elevation of the oscillative body with the valve keyremoved.

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation taken on line 'l-l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation taken on line 8--8 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view cf the .casing taken through thefront and rear walls thereof.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional elevation of the casing looking indirection of the front closure thereof.

1 Claim. (Cl. llr6-186) Briefly, the invention consists of Va container,or casing having combined air inlets and .sound outlets; an oscilativebody having air inlets, `air outlets and sound producing devicesassociated with the air outlets and which outlets also `act as soundemitting passages, a bellows positioned on each side of oscillatingbody, a single valve key for controlling the air to be emitted from thesound emitting passages, and a plurality of spaced cams s.ationaryrelative to the casing for actuating the single valve key, all of lwhichis Aso designed and assembled as to articulate distinct syllables andwords when the device is rocked to and fro sideways.

The container, or casing for housing the several parts of the device isdesignaed generally as i, and the same ycomprises a body having a pairof side walls 2 and 3, a top wall 4 which is preferably, although notnecessarily, curved out-y wardly and of such width that the side wallswillV converge downwardly and join with the side edges oi a bottom wall5, so as to provide acasing body that is V-shaped in iront and rear`formed oi plastic material, as they may be` formed of sheet metal, fibreand the like. The

closure is vprovided with a plurality of suitably arranged openings il)which serve both as air Yinlets and sound outlets.

When the casing is positioned within the chest or'body portion .of adoll, it is adapted to be suitably supported against displacement sothat by rocking the doll to and fro sideways the casing will bestationary relative thereto. The casing is preferably supported withinthe doll body so that the end closure 1 will be positioned to the frontof the doll.

The means to utter articulate sounds `in distinct syllables and wordscontained within the container, or casing will now be described.

An oscillative body designated, generally, as l I, and V-shaped in rearand front elevation, is hinged, .or pivotally connectedat its lower end,as at l2 with a bearing y'member `i3 suitably secured to the bottom wall5 of the casing I so that it Acan be swung, or oscillated within thecasing relative thereto when the casing is rocked or moved to and frosideways.

The oscillative body Il .serves as an air intake and expelling memberand is associated with a pair of bellows designated I4 and I5. Theoscillative body I I acts and serves as a single wall, or partitionbetween the inner open ends of the bellows I4 and I5, as will be moreclearly apparent hereinafter.

The oscillative body II is, preferably, although not necessarily formedof three parts designated I6, I1 and I8. The parts, or members I6 and Ilare, preferably, although not necessarily of molded plastic material.They are so fashioned and assembled as to provide a V-shaped recess I9at the rear end portion thereof to receive a suitable V-shaped insertmember I8, preferably, although not necessarily of lead, or othersuitable heavy material to add weight to the upper end of theoscillative body I I and-render it top heavy. The top edge portion ofthe insert member I8 is preferably flanged laterally and projectsforwardly to cap the plastic members from the rear to the forward edgesthereof. The parts I6 and I1 are suitably cemented together and theinsert member I8 is suitably cemented to the parts I6 and I1 to form aunit of the structure.

The parts I 6 and I1 are provided on their outer faces with ellipticalor ring shaped ribs 20 and 2 I, respectively, and the peripheral facesthereof are provided with endless grooves, or channels 22 and 23,respectively, adapted to receive the edges 24 and 25, respectively, atthe open ends of the bellows I4 and I5, respectively, which bellows areformed of any suitable flexible material impervious to air such, forinstance, as rubber material so that the open ends thereof can bereadily snapped into position on the ribs 20 and 2|, respectively. Theouter end of the bellows I4 and I are suitably secured to the innerfaces of the side walls 2 and 3, respectively, of the container, orcasing body by means such, for instance, as adhesive cement.

The air intake and expelling member, or oscillative body I I is providedwith a T-shaped air inlet and a pair of suitable air and sound outletsleading from the interiors of the bellows I4 and I5.

The T-shaped air intake includes a horizontal passage 26 which startsfrom and which is open at its outer end to the front face 21 of theoscillativebody II adjacent the lower end thereof, as clearly apparentfrom Fig. 2. The inner end of the passage 26 connects and communicateswith axially aligned air passages 28 and 29 which are open to the sidefaces of the oscillative body II within the bounds of elliptical ribsand 2I, and which communicate at their outer ends with the interiors ofthe bellows I4 and I5, respectively. The outer ends of the axiallyaligned air inlets 28 and 29 are adapted to be closed and opened bymeans of a pair of suitable ap valves 30 and 3 I respectively, suitablysecured by means such as adhesive cement, to the side faces of theoscillative body I I adjacent the outer ends of the axially aligned airinlets 28 and 29, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The air and sound outlets leading from the interiors of the bellows I4and I5 are designated 32 and 33, respectively. Outlet 32 is open at itsinner end to the side face of the oscillative body II, as shown in Fig.2 within the bounds of the elliptical rib 2D and communicates with theinteriorA of the left hand bellows I4, and the outer end of the oulet 32is open to thel front face 34 of the oscillative body I I adjacent theupper edge thereof, which face is out of alignment with and offset inadvance of face 21, as apparent from Fig. 2.

The air and sound outlet, designated 33 is open at its inner end to theside of the oscillative body within the bounds of the elliptic rib 2Iand communicates with the interior of the right hand bellows I 5, andthe outer end of the outlet 33 is open to the front face 34 of theoscillative body II adjacent and below the outer end of the outlet 32,as clearly apparent from Figs. 2 and 3.

The inner ends of the air and sound outlets 32 and 33 are covered bymeans of suitable reeds 35 and 36 which are suitably secured at theirupper ends to the side faces of the oscillative body II by means ofmembers 31 and 38 adhesively cemented to the side faces of theoscillative body II, as apparent from Figs. 2 and 4. The side faces ofvthe oscillative body II are suitably recessed as at 39 and 40surrounding the inner end of the outlets 32 and 33, respectively, asapparent from Figs. 2 and 4, to permit air pressure within the bellowsI4 and I5 to slightly lift the free ends of reeds 35 and 36 when air isbeing expelled from the bellows I4 and I5 to produce or pronounce thewords pa-pa and ma-ma, respectively, likened to vocal sounds and childsspeech, which words, or sounds are clear and expressive.

The outer ends of the air and sound outlets, holes or passages 32 and 33are normally closed by means of a single valve key 4I which is pivotallyconnected to the oscillative body II, as at 42, and it is springcontrolled in one direction of its movements, as at 43.

The single valve key employed and designated, generally, as 4I islocated in front of the front face of the oscillative body II. The upperend 44 of the key is fiat and of such dimension as to cover both outletends of the air outlet and sound emitting passages 32 and 33, and, theopposite, or lower end of the key, which is in the form of a rockerlever 45 is channeled outwardly to receive the free end of the spring 43which imparts outward pressure against the lower end of the key 4I toforce pads 46 and 41 on the flat end 44 of the key against the flatfront face of the oscillative body and normally close the outlet ends ofthe passages 32 and 33.

The suitable pad 46 is cemented to the inner face of the ilat upper end44 of the key 4I to close the outlet end of the passage 32, while theoutlet end of the passage 33 is closed by the pad 41 on the fiat end 44of the key 4I adjacent the pad 46. The pad 46 and the correspondingportion of the flat end 44 of the body 4I is provided with a smallcentral opening 48 to permit the slight escape of air therethroughpreceding the actual uncovering vof the air outlet and sound emittingpassage 32 so as to produce a sort of crying sound likened to a sound"ah preceding the first syllable ma when pronouncing the word ma-ma bycompressing and discharging air from within the bellows I4, as will bemore clearly apparent hereinafter.

The means for rocking the single valve key` 4I controlling the airoutlet and sound emission passages 32 and 33 includes three spaced cams49, 56 and 5I which are stationary with relation to the casing body andthey lie in the arcuate path of travel of the valve key which ispivotally carried on the front face of the oscillative body II, so thatwhen the body is rocked to and fro sideways, the spring actuated lever45 of the valve key 4I will ride on the cam faces for opening the soundemission passages 32 and 33 and will Yenter the spaces 52 and 53 andvice-versa be afnemer tween the earns to cause the valve'key 4| to closethe air outlet fand* Asound emission passages 32 and 33 due to thespring exerting pressure against the valve key 4|. Both sound emissionpassages 32 and 33 are opened at the same time, and

closed at the same time. Only one bellows is ex peiling air at a time.The other bellows is taking in air and sound is only produced by thebellows expelling the air, thus only one sound articulated syllable isproduced at a time, although both sound emission passages are opened bythe single valve key 4| which controls both sound emitting passages 32and 33.

In moving the sound device from the position shown in full lines in Fig.1 to the position shown in dotted lines, the following is the sequenceof syllables articulated.

It will be noted that the bellows |4 is deated and that the bellows l5is iniiated, and the air therein is at atmospheric pressure.

Now, when the casing has been moved to the dotted line position, fromthe full line position, the oscillative body is in the position shown atA and the valve key 4| is in its open position relative to the soundemission passages 32 and 33, as the end 45 of the key 4| is held down bythe cam 4e. As the oscillative body begins to swing downwardly, bygravity, to the position shown at B, it allows the lower end 45 of thekey 4E to drop into the space 52 between the cams 45! and 5S. No air isemitted from passage 32 except the slight amount of air that escapesthrough the vent 48 in the head portion of the valve key 4| which causesan ah sound to be articulated, which sound is more or less muilled asthe air pressure has not been built up Sulliciently in the bellows |5for the articulation of the rst syllable of the word ma-ma until theoscillative body reaches the dotted line position shown at C and atwhich position the valve key 4| has been raised from the outlet end ofthe sound emitting passage 32 by the cam 5@ causing the first syllablema of the word ina-ina to be articulated. As the oscillative body swingsdownwardly, the lower end of key fil is released from. the cam 50 andthe key di is momentarily in its closed position due to the gap 53between the cams 5G and 5|, thus eliecting a pause between the irst andsecond syllables of the word ina-ina. As the oscillative body llcontinues to swing into its final position shown in dotted lines at D,the valve key 4| is again raised from the outlet end of the soundemitting passage 32 by the cam 5| and this time the second syllable maof the word ma-ma is articulated. The second syllable ma is drawn outfor a longer period of time than the iirst syllable ma of the word ma-madue to the difference in the lengths of the cams Eil and 5|. When theoscillative body comes to res at position D, the valve key 4| remains inan open position. Thus, it will be clearly apparent that the threesyllable word ah-ma-ma has been articulated, the syllable ah beforepressure above atmospheric pressure has begun to build up within thebellows l5, the second syllable ma is articulated after the pressure hasbeen built up, and then the third syllable ma is articulated during thenal movement of the oscillative body which completely deflates thebellows I5 as the bellows comes to rest.

When the casing is to be returned to the full line position from thedotted line position shown in Fig. l, the bellows I4 which has beeninated to atmospheric pressure during the expelling of air from bellowsI5 will be y deflated and the bel lows l5 will be inflated toatmospheric pressure.

Now, when the casing has been moved from the dotted line position to thefull line position, the oscillative body is still in a position thatholds the valve key 4| open by means of the cam 5|. As the oscillativebody -falls or swings" by gravity downwardly, the lower end 45 of thekey 4| will enter the gap 53 between the cams 5| and 50 when it leavescam 5|. While the key 4| is held open by the cam 5|, there will be nosound emitted as air pressure has not been built up sufficiently aboveatmospheric pressure until the key reaches the gap 53 which closes thekey. Now, as the key 4| is opened by riding over the cam 50, the firstsyllable pa of the word pa-pa is articulated. Then, as the body moves onthe key 4| enters the gap 52 momentarily causing a pause between thefirst syllable pa and the second syllable pa to be articulated. Thesecond syllable pa is articulated when the key is opened by riding onthe cam 49 and it remains open until the casing is again turned sidewaysto the dotted line position. The second syllable pa of the Word pa-pa isdrawn out longer than the first syllable thereof due to the differencein the length of the cams 49 and 50.

From the foregoing description, it is clearly apparent that I provide asimplied means which when tilted to and fro sideways will alternatelyproduce two difierent two syllable words due to the oscillative bodyconnecting the two bellows following the laws of gravity and slowlyassuming its normal gravitated position adjacent either side wall of thecasing body, thereby dellating one bellows and at the same timeinflating the other bellows, and, while delating one bellows, by thegravity actuated oscillative body, produce the articulated sounds of thethree syllable word ah-ma-ma through a sound emitting passage controlledby a single valve key controlled by three cam elements, and, whiledelating the other bellows, by the gravity actuated oscillative body,produce the word pa-pa through a second and adjacent sound emittingpassage controlled by the same valve key and cam elements while slowlymoving to its normal gravitated position adjacent the opposite side wallof the casing body. By eliminating the small opening in the valve key atthe sound outlet end of one of the sound emitting passages, the firstsyllable ah of the three syllable word ah-ma-ma will not be produced,thus, only the two syllables ma-ma will be sound articulated with apause between the two syllables and with the last syllable drawing outlonger than the rst syllable as with the word pa-pa.

What I claim is:

An oscillative V-shaped air intake and expelling body for soundproducing devices for talking dolls consisting of two light weight sidemembers and a third insert member of relatively heavy weight, laterallyprojecting anges at the upper end of the insert member to cap the twoside mem-bers, said members arranged and united to serve as a unit, ringlike peripherally channeled ribs on the outer faces of the two sidemembers to facilitate the attachment of bellows thereto, air passagesopen to the outer faces of the two side members and communicating withan air inlet open to the front face of the body, two other passageswithin the body each having at one end a iiat reed controlled air andsound opening open to the outer face of each side member and open attheir other ends respectively at different elevations to the front faceof the body, a single valve 7 member overlying both of said openings andhingedly mounted intermediate its ends on the front face of the body,and a. spring anchored at one end to the body and engaging the valvemember at its opposite free end to normally close the 5 two air andsound openings which are open to the front face of the body.

ARTHUR PETROV.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,526,185 Sigman et al. Feb. 10,1925 1,630,261 Evans May 31, 1927 1,642,767 DeCesare Sept. 20, 1927 l02,174,594 Petrov Oct. 3, 1939

